THE KISS by GUSTAV KLIMT
THE KISS by GUSTAV KLIMT
Gustav Klimt was born 160 years ago this month and died in the influenza epidemic of 1918, aged only 56. His rich colour palette and style are, like Monet’s Waterlilies and Turner’s skies, recognizable to someone with only a passing interest in art. His tree of life has inspired millions of incarnations as a beautiful art nouveau decorative pattern.
Klimt was an Austrian symbolist and a leading member of the Vienna Secession Movement, which promoted the work of young, unconventional, talent. Their symbol, Pallas Athena, is the Greek Goddess of just causes, wisdom and the arts.
Gustav Klimt was born 160 years ago this month and died in the influenza epidemic of 1918, aged only 56. His rich colour palette and style are, like Monet’s Waterlilies and Turner’s skies, recognizable to someone with only a passing interest in art. His tree of life has inspired millions of incarnations as a beautiful art nouveau decorative pattern.
Klimt was an Austrian symbolist and a leading member of the Vienna Secession Movement, which promoted the work of young, unconventional, talent. Their symbol, Pallas Athena, is the Greek Goddess of just causes, wisdom and the arts.
Detail from HOPE II, 1907-08 by GUSTAV KLIMT
Detail from EUGENIA PRIMAVESI, 1913–14 by GUSTAV KLIMT
Detail from PORTRAIT OF ADELE BLOCK-BAUER, 1907 by GUSTAV KLIMT
Detail from HOPE II, 1907-08 by GUSTAV KLIMT
Detail from EUGENIA PRIMAVESI, 1913–14 by GUSTAV KLIMT
Detail from PORTRAIT OF ADELE BLOCK-BAUER, 1907 by GUSTAV KLIMT
Klimt came from an artistic family. His father was a gold engraver, and he studied at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule, school of applied arts and crafts. His early work was architectural decoration, including murals and ceilings. With his brother Ernst and their friend, Franz Matsch, they set up The Company of Artists and accepted public commissions, including the ceiling of the Kunhistorisches Museum. However, those public commissions ceased in 1900 when his ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna was deemed pornographic by a shocked Viennese society.
Klimt loved the female form. His work is sensuous and sexual, not only in its subjects but the sumptuousness of his patterns and colours. Arguably his most famous work, The Kiss, was in homage to Emilie Louise Floge, a talented fashion designer, the sister of his sister-in-law who became his lifelong companion. He continued to be sexually very active, although apparently discreet, and fathered 14 children. One likes to think those talented genes have spread far and wide.
Klimt came from an artistic family. His father was a gold engraver, and he studied at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule, school of applied arts and crafts. His early work was architectural decoration, including murals and ceilings. With his brother Ernst and their friend, Franz Matsch, they set up The Company of Artists and accepted public commissions, including the ceiling of the Kunhistorisches Museum. However, those public commissions ceased in 1900 when his ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna was deemed pornographic by a shocked Viennese society.
Klimt loved the female form. His work is sensuous and sexual, not only in its subjects but the sumptuousness of his patterns and colours. Arguably his most famous work, The Kiss, was in homage to Emilie Louise Floge, a talented fashion designer, the sister of his sister-in-law who became his lifelong companion. He continued to be sexually very active, although apparently discreet, and fathered 14 children. One likes to think those talented genes have spread far and wide.
The Kiss was painted during Klimt’s Golden Period, where he used actual gold leaf on his canvases. Another work from that period that has its own interesting history, is Woman in Gold, the portrait of a prominent Viennese socialite, Adele Bloch-Bauer, commission by her husband, a Jewish industrialist.
The painting was confiscated by the Nazis in 1939 and reappeared after the war in the Belvedere Palace in Vienna. Adele’s great niece, Maria Altmann, who had known her aunt and uncle well, and had escaped wartime Austria to become an American citizen, claimed ownership of the work and after a protracted legal battle, had the work returned to her, representing the biggest single restoration of looted Nazi treasure.
The work was purchased by Ronald Lauder, son of the beautician businesswoman, Este Lauder, for $136m and is now housed in his Neue Gallerie in Manhattan. A film starring Helen Mirren as Maria Altman, tells this extraordinary story - it is a must see.
The Kiss was painted during Klimt’s Golden Period, where he used actual gold leaf on his canvases. Another work from that period that has its own interesting history, is Woman in Gold, the portrait of a prominent Viennese socialite, Adele Bloch-Bauer, commission by her husband, a Jewish industrialist.
The painting was confiscated by the Nazis in 1939 and reappeared after the war in the Belvedere Palace in Vienna. Adele’s great niece, Maria Altmann, who had known her aunt and uncle well, and had escaped wartime Austria to become an American citizen, claimed ownership of the work and after a protracted legal battle, had the work returned to her, representing the biggest single restoration of looted Nazi treasure.
The work was purchased by Ronald Lauder, son of the beautician businesswoman, Este Lauder, for $136m and is now housed in his Neue Gallerie in Manhattan. A film starring Helen Mirren as Maria Altman, tells this extraordinary story - it is a must see.
Klimt did not keep a diary or write about his life. He said : I am a painter who paints day after day, from morning to night. Whoever wants to know about me, only has to look fully at my pictures.
At Fox & Chave, over the years, our Klimt designs have been perennial best sellers. Klimt Red, a detail from his painting Hope II, was one of our first scarves and has been a firm favourite with our customers for years. We have been delighted to supply product for museums and exhibitions including major shows for his 150th anniversary ten years ago.
Klimt did not keep a diary or write about his life. He said : I am a painter who paints day after day, from morning to night. Whoever wants to know about me, only has to look fully at my pictures.
At Fox & Chave, over the years, our Klimt designs have been perennial best sellers. Klimt Red, a detail from his painting Hope II, was one of our first scarves and has been a firm favourite with our customers for years. We have been delighted to supply product for museums and exhibitions including major shows for his 150th anniversary ten years ago.